The Best And Worst States For Labor And Employment Costs

Pages

Labor costs can be the single largest expense for businesses like solution providers that are built around expertise rather than capital equipment and property. CRN's analysis has already explored the best states for finding educated, experienced IT workers. But, what about the cost of hiring those workers and related costs of doing business? Some states may have a more educated workforce, but employees in those states often earn higher salaries, and there are other related costs, such as a state's unemployment insurance rates and the cost of energy (gas and electricity) used by employees, to consider. The analysis' criteria and metrics were weighted to reflect their importance to solution providers based on the results of a February 2013 CRN study conducted among 250 technology solution providers.

Here are the best and worst states for labor costs. The first five states have the highest scores (No. 5-No. 1), followed by the five states with the worst rankings (No. 46-No. 50). Data sources include CNBC, the Tax Foundation, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.